


Tether

by GoodJanet



Category: Mad Men
Genre: Angst, Declarations Of Love, Drabble Collection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 04:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodJanet/pseuds/GoodJanet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From her very first day at Sterling-Cooper, Peggy always knew when she was needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drifting

It’s his last day at McCann. First and last really. And he saved his goodbye with Peggy for the end.

"Come with me. Please," he whispers, holding her hand tightly in his. 

He knows it’s wrong. He’s knows it’s selfish. But he’s scared and alone, and nothing makes sense.

"Don," she sighs. 

He swallows hard. 

"I’m sorry." He lets go of her hand, and her palm is clammy as a result.

She can’t think of anything to say, but he does.

“I love you.”

The worst part is that she believes him.


	2. Ups & Downs

They meet unexpectedly in an elevator of a nice hotel a few months later. She's on the 5th floor; he's on the 7th.

"Vacation?" he asks after they have exchanged polite greetings.

"Wedding," she answers. 

His stomach drops in a way that has nothing to do with the elevator. 

The door dings on her floor, and she steps out. 

"Congratulations," he manages to say before the doors close again. 

She doesn't get the chance to tell him it's not her own. 

He scans the paper frantically for wedding announcements. He breathes a sigh of relief to see that _Mary_ Olson (a cousin perhaps?) had been the bride that day.


	3. Fringe

The next time she sees him is at a department store in the women’s section. He’s picking up lacy, silky things, frowning, and putting them back.

A new woman, she assumes. She walks over, despite the butterflies in her stomach.

“Need any help today, sir?” she asks in that chipper, customer service lilt.

“Yes, I’m looking—”

She smiles when he stops there.

“I’m looking for something for Betty,” he finishes after a moment.

Peggy frowns. Why Betty?

“She died. Her funeral’s tomorrow,” he explains. “She said she wanted white lace garments.”

“Oh, Don, I—”

“It’s fine,” he deflects. “I just…don’t know what to pick.”

“I can help you,” she says softly, reaching out to gently pat his arm.


	4. Cut Loose

He sees women that he thinks are Peggy more times than he’d care to admit.

At the store.

At the park.

At the office.

At the salon.

She’s everywhere in his mind and nowhere to be seen.

He drafts letters to her and burns them. He picks the phone up out of the cradle and listens to the dial tone. He imagines walking his shameful way back into the building that devoured SC&P and making his way to her office to talk to her.

He doesn’t.


	5. Tied

She worries about him. She always has. And she knows that if she ever wants to hear from him that she’ll have to be the one who reaches out. 

She wants him to feel welcome and safe. And loved.

Peggy reaches for the heavy phone on her desk and dials his home number.

“Hello?” Peggy says.

“Peggy?” he asks, trying not to sound hopeful.

She swallows.

“I miss you,” she breathes.

He laughs it off.

“I miss you, Don,” she insists. “I’d like to see you sometime without having to bump into you first.”

“Okay.”

For her, anything.

“I’ll call you tomorrow. You can tell me what you want me to make for dinner.”

He smiles a little at the idea of Peggy in an apron and pearls serving him dinner when he walks through the door. If anything, the picture in his head is more realistic if their positions are switched.

“I’ll be here.”

“Until tomorrow,” she says, letting her words hang for a moment before hanging up.

Don hangs up the phone with one hand and puts his gun on the table with his other.

He looks down at the note he was planning on leaving.

He shreds it into tiny pieces.

He breathes.


End file.
